Don’t Burn The Day

while mOst Of ya’ll will be receiving this pOst in yOur inbOx just a few hOurs shy Of a histOric annOuncement, it’ll be mOrning Of wednesday, nOvember 5th (fOr me and the rest Of us On this side, living la vida abrOad), tO find Out whO the next leader Of the free wOrld will be!

and hOpefully, yOu will have exercised yOur right tO vOte by now, and will have chOsen wisely!

i am cOMpletely amped fOR this OccasiOn and embracing the week OF midterms here at the schOOl = i can slack a tad while the kiddOs sweat with their exams On their desks.

sOOOOO, i say all Of this tO share with my abrOad-living brethren and/Or Online stream nerds, that this year, fOr the first time ever, assOciated press will be prOviding Online stream Of electiOn 2008, starting at 7pm est.  yOu bet i’ll be there! and i’ll be On aim, skype, msn, gchat…alladat, in between prOctOring exams, tO get the scOOp frOm yOu nOrth american peeps!

fyi: it is nOw a 13-hOur difference to eastern standard time due to daylight savings. that’s right. i’m even mOre futuristic now!

and nOw, fOr sOme reason, sam cOOke is stuck in my head ……………  check the clip…………

. . dOn’t burn <electiOn> day. .

(Well, sorta… because the production was not the spectacular “glow in the dark” one I was hoping for, however, close enough……)

I just got in from Kanye’s concert here at the Shanghai Grand Stage, and the man had the whole stadium on their feet, rockin’ out!!! I haven’t had THAT much fun at a concert in a LONGGGGGGG TIME!  Now granted, it’s also been a longgggg time since I’ve seen a “real” live act, and not to mention, options here are slim, so my standards have lowered incredibly….. so all these variables must be taken into consideration, ….. but seriously, Mr. West did it up for me big time tonight!! I NEEDED this concert as it made me feel very much back in my element; and the crowd was alive in song and dance, all the way through!!

Not nearly sold out (comprised of both local and expat attendees) and I found that “no merchandising” was odd, but I guess that’s how it floats over here. Shrug.

The stage set-up itself was typical stage middle, jumbo screens to left/right. Performance lasted a full hour with just about every song you can think of. In the beginning, I found he sped up tempo… probably in order to include as many songs as he did in his set. At this very moment, I wouldn’t be able to recall every single track, however, my personal highlights were: “Homecoming,” “Flashing Lights,” sentimental “Hey Mama,” “Good Life,” “Touch the Sky” and the Interlude sung by a back-up singer, a rendition of: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. Oh! and he also did up Estelle’s “American Boy” - a real big hit in tha clubs ’round this town!

And it was a bit surreal that I was going nuts whenever he shouted and/or incorporated “Shanghai” in lyrics…… Wow! I’m really here! Exhibit A Video:

I go for mine, I got to shine
Now throw your hands up Shanghai!!!!!

Ahhhhhh I’m feelin’ SKY HIGH right now….Much love to Chi-town from Hai-town!!!

. . don’t burn <electiOn> day. .

Ok, so my girl, Kym is famous in Sweden (waddup KS!)…. and now, I AM MOST DEFINITELY FAMOUS IN SHANGHAI!!

As mentioned in previous post, I attended lifestyle e-zine, Shanghaiist’ Annual Halloween Party at Shanghai Studio this past Friday night and won myself some Brooklyn Lager with my “Boombox” costume. Who woulda thunk a last-minute, hand-made costume, inspired by a Halloween activity for da kidz would bring me home a prize!??!! And I had initially debated on wearing it out, too!?! How SILLY of me! It’s funny what life throws your way sometimes….

But anyway,  CLICK HERE to READ AND SEE me accept my prize!!! I love the “a.k.a. Boombox” …. cracks me up!!!! HILARITY!!! :-P  Though, I’d like to call it, “My Life in Stereo.” *wink wink, *nudge nudge.

PS. Mehmet! I hope you are reading this! ~ Con Amor, from one boombox to another!

. . don’t burn <electiOn> day. .

This is it people… this is when the race will be decided. This coming Saturday November 1st kicks off the FINAL FOUR DAYS TO CHANGE AMERICA. The public opinion polls don’t matter anymore. This race will be won by whichever side gets more of its voters to the polls.

Over the Final Four days, every Barack Obama supporter needs to dig deep and commit as much time as possible to calling battleground state voters and get them to the polls. Last Call NY will once again have phone bank locations up and running all across the State of New York. New Yorkers MUST play their part to make sure Senator Obama wins!

We need every Barack Obama supporter to spread the word, and to bring their cellphone and charger– and all their friends – to one of the many large Last Call phone center locations throughout the State. We will be feeding these locations with up-to-the-minute lists of voters in key battleground states.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON LOCATIONS AND DETAILS NOW!!

And here’s a bonus that I just came across, a fresh little remix featuring Dres of Black Sheep: “This or That”…. The Choice is YOURS!!!

. . don’t burn <electiOn> day. .

Lager!

YUP! - Brooklyn Lager.

I won it here in Shanghai!  (We’ll get into the “How I Won” a little bit later….)

Now, I’ve never been one to put myself inside a box - literally nor figuratively. And, I’ve never worn shades in a night club. However, this Halloween became a huge exception to both rules. As noted in my previous post, I last minutely hand-made my costume this year….. an awesome boombox! And as all costumes, you MUST maximize usage of it because I mean, when else would you rock it, without having too many strange looks around you??!!

Night time came and options of parties were thrown around. We decided to hit up local lifestyle e-zine, Shanghaiist’ party in the Bomb Shelter at Shanghai Studio:

My initial thought:  “Awwwwww hellll, how long am I going to last with a box over my head, in a club?? I better think of a back-up costume for when the time comes to put the system down on the floor, safely in a corner”….. I dug deep down into my Creativity Vault to see what I could conjure up…..  my juices came up with:

Costume 1: Bassin’ with My Boombox

and Costume 2: Imaginin’ with Lennon

and Costume 3:Profilin’ with Yoko.

Test run…

And then, we arrived in full uniform!  Robot, The Joker, Class Nerd, Dead Prom Queen, Scary Little Red Riding Hood and of course my Triple-Costume. :-)  Previously a bomb shelter, I gotta say, the Shanghaiist folks did a pretty damn good job with decorations. This place was virtually a maze inside with mirrors and small pocket rooms that made it very trivial for an inebriated crowd to roam about. I only got lost a couple times

A cage of mangled, body parts was also involved…And so I had test it out somehow…

Shortly after my cage stint, I was hollered at by some dude, who yelled out “Hey Boombox! You won the contest! Come with me to pick up your prize!”  First, I wasn’t even at all aware of the contest and secondly, I was unsure if that was this dude’s opening pick up line. LOL. But it didn’t matter, I shuffled my way through the maze of costumed folks and mirrored walls and found myself in the Winner’s Circle Photo-Op Session!

Now, what I learned was that there was a contest for Best Male and Best Female Costumes of the night. I was told that I had won 2nd Place. Naturally, I asked who won 1st and was told some transvestite, dressed as Elvira. I mean, c’mon!!! A trans??!! The “It” doesn’t belong in either Male nor Female categories!! And that’s no “costume,” but rather a typical outfit for “it.” Take a look at “it” for yourself below:

So yeah, the 1st Place shoulda been mine in a world that had sense, but I settled for the 2nd Place slot…. and won myself a case of Brooklyn Lager to be delivered to my home. Though I can think of a bunch of other prizes they could’ve given me, I guess the irony of having a little taste of home is kinda cute in itself. From Brooklyn to Shanghai…. BK has come a long way!

Anyhoots, as the night progressed, my knobs and buttons were stolen, fell off, missing somehow….and ironically, pretty much at about the same time, the music in the club stopped as well. Folks were yelling what happened to the music??!! And I jokingly responded that someone stole my Volume Knob, so therefore, the music died.  True? Yes. But even more true, is that the cops came a knockin’ and put an end to the extravanganza due to noise complaints.

Here we are leaving to hit up another spot, making a few friends along the way…

In the end, it turned out to be a pretty HAPPY Halloween…. and John and Yoko didn’t even have to do much.

. . don’t burn the day. .

Sooooo for school, we’ve got this annual Halloween Activity thing for all students in the International Program.

How It Works:

• 6 Foreign Teachers are to each conceptualize a Halloween Activity.
• All students of the International Division are divided into 6 groups (their House League groups).
• Day of Celebrations: Students and teachers alike are encouraged to wear a costume, and each House League group of students rotate from one room to the next, per Foreign Teacher/Halloween Activity room.
• The final rooms consisted of: (1) “Face Painting” led by a Pirate, (2) “Drawing on Pumpkins” led by Dora the Explorer, (3) “Finger Puppets” led by a Nerd and Scary Little Red Riding Hood, (4) “Scary Stories” led by a Robot, (5) “Gooey Food Concoctions” led by a Mad Scientist, and (6)………………… “Michael Jackson’s Thriller Room” (music video and dance) led by ……who else, but yours truly, as a Boombox!

First off, I have to say, this had to be the MOST stressful and time-crunched week! On top of my already insane 26 lesson-week, we had to create our midterm exams that are to be administered next week……and I had soooo many friggin tech problems with just getting the downloaded music video to play on the prompter in the classroom. (But that is an ENTIRELY SEPARATE story in itself.)

Anyway, at the very last minute, I was saved when I popped into a cd store, the night before showday, and was able to very luckily, find a cd/dvd combo pack of good ol’ MJ that included the Thriller video. But I was not done yet!… I had NO COSTUME!! And if you think getting a costume in the States is stressful, try doing it in China!!  I literally MADE MY COSTUME ON THE MORNING OF the day of celebrations. I worked on the thing in between my classes and skipped lunch for it. Oh, and inspiration came as duh…… I’m playing the music video and going to teach the kids the Thriller Dance…. I couldn’t find a box to fit me as an ipod….so I went old school on the kids, and turned myself into a boombox! What can I say? I was on a Creative Crunch!!!!! But it turned out superb!!

So, ya’ll better enjoy this!!

Introducing: Boombox

Starring: Me

If you look closely, you can see I pulled a plug from a real radio, and made a little home for it in the back of my costume. Thennnn, on the side, I made 3 insertion holes for “Line, Mic and Stereo”. I borrowed a co-workers’ big set of headphones and wore it on the day of, with the wire plugged into “Line.” Knobs, buttons… the whole sha-bang!…. Plus! A real cassette, taped on the front!!  It’s kinda nifty to think what you can do with just a plain ol’ box, colored construction paper and some foil!!

The cd that saved my Halloween Activity Concept!!

Welcome to The Thriller Room…..<insert Evil Laugh>

The kids watch and and get a little skurred…

And now onto The Thriller Dance! I had two dancer-students from the 9th grade help me with choreographing the little ones….

My favorite costumes…. Woody from Toy Story (my little Johnny in 1st grade, sooooooo adorable!!) and The Incredibles Boy (George from 2nd grade, who I taught over the summer…. cutie!)

And now the best part….. is a little video clip of the little monsters dancing to Thriller!  aka Organized Chaos! LOL! Enjoy! 

. . don’t burn the day. .

The Economist has opened up the vote to its readers worldwide to see who’d be the next US president if the whole world could vote. China, as it turns out, is “strong Obama” — 83% of respondents here voted Obama and 17% McCain. With more than 10,000 votes cast, it looks like the whole world is voting overwhelmingly in Obama’s favor. When last checked, 9,120 votes went to Obama while McCain managed 270 votes, defeating his opponent with a small margin in such enlightened states as Cuba, Congo, Sudan, Algeria, Namibia and Macedonia. Iraq turned out to be the only “strong McCain” constituency (thanks to all his military buddies).

Hmph, anyway… just some food for thought…. as we all tick, tick, tick away!

. . don’t burn the day. .

at last! after weeks Of hOunding my lOcal precinct tO ensure that they had received, prOcessed and sent Out my absentee ballOt tO me here in the ‘hai …. (and I will admit, despite the fact that it had worked fOr me back in 2000 when i absentee’d frOm italy,  I still questiOned my ballOt arriving in my hands, On time, this time arOund — especially being in a cOuntry where EVERYTHING via pOstal is clOsely examined)…. my ballOt arrived On my desk tOday!!

i rejOiced! i cOuldn’t believe my eyes. i felt like lil’ charlie bucket winning the gOlden ticket frOm willy wOnka! i was sO nervOus at first, triple-checking the names On the ballOt. but Once fOund, all else was a cOOl breeze…..

One vOte rOcked!…….

sO my dear fellOw americans, if i can carry out my civic duty frOm a land where the 4-letter wOrd that begins with a “v” and ends with an “e” with middle letters of “O” and “t” is nOn-existent, yOu have nO excuse but tO dO yOur part in this year’s electiOn!!!! shOw up tO the bOOths On tuesday, nOvember 4 and vOte!!!!

besides, as yOu can imagine with current headlines being what they are nOwaday, being an american, living abrOad is nO easy task! i cOuld use a little redemptiOn Over here…. pretty, pretty please!

. . dOn’t burn the <electiOn> day. .

I just HAD to document these for keepsake… Enjoy!

LAST WEEK

Me: OK, “duck.” This was a Spelling Word for us a few weeks ago. Who can spell duck?

Boy (raises his hand): Oh! I know!

Me: Yes, go ahead, spell “duck.”

Boy: Uhhhh D-I-C-K.

Me: New Spelling Word is shed, s-h-e-d, shed. Who can tell me what “shed” means?

Girl (raises her hand): I know what it is!

Me: What is a shed?

Girl: It is a bad word. Shit.

TODAY

Me: Let’s review. Who can tell me what a “hen” is?

Boy: It is a girl chicken.

Me: Very good!  Now, here’s a bonus. Who can tell me what a boy chicken is called?

Girl (raises her hand with confidence)

Me: Yes? What do you call a boy chicken?

Girl: A cock!

(Me: OKayyyyyyyyy… There is also another name for a boy chicken, called a rooster!)

. . don’t burn the day. .

I don’t mean to sound pompous, but ummmm… I just had to share this thoughtful note that I had received earlier today, from one of my student’s parents:

Dear Ms. Mimi,

I just want to share my thoughts about the Open House day with you.

I was very impressed with your class. You had the childrens’ attention throughout the whole lesson. You were serious, but at the same time, you made it very interesting and even funny at times. I can see why Alex is so happy to be with you. He is very, very interested to learn and do the English homework and I think it is because of you. I have been in several Open House lessons (my other son is in Grade 3) and I can say that your lesson was the best I´ve ever attended. It has been a big relief to see that Alex is in very good hands. Thank you.

Mmmmmm Hmmmm!  Ya know, in all the headaches and dramatics of the day, notes like these, smiles from the kiddos and sparkles in their eyes KINDA, DO in fact make up for it all. I’m already pretty amazed with the progress of these little beings…and we haven’t even hit midterms yet!

Then, on another note - I just spent the last two hours on the frickin’ phone with Netgear to troubleshoot my wireless issue. (If ya think internet problems are awful in the States, try troubleshooting in a different country!) Boy oh boy!… But in the end…. I got it to work. I’m still grumbling and grumpy over the whole thing, especially over the uselessness of a particular being with whom I share sleeping quarters with, but that is a whole other discussion in itself.

With that said, we are closer to me sharing my Inner Mongolia flicks! I know I keep promising, but they will come!

. . don’t burn the day. .